It blows my mind that that's basically market value for a guy like Liriano in this league...but hey, he just turned 29, he still pitches 9+K/9, he's a lefty...it's easy to see why he's still a commodity.

Considering he's being signed to be the #4 guy and will likely be pushed to #5 by the end of the season I won't complain. I'm happy to see the Pirates actually spend money on the bottom of the rotation instead of just skimming the leftovers for Spring Training Invitees and see if any of them can stick like usual.

Hopefully he won't fall apart like Bedard did last year.

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... confusing though certainly better then rushing one of the prospects or waiting to see what shapes up in Spring Training. IF it works out right the Pirates have a solid top 4 rotation. If it doesn't it's not a killer contract, and he'll still could be an alright #5. No clue who they're leaning towards as #5 right now.

... confusing though certainly better then rushing one of the prospects or waiting to see what shapes up in Spring Training. IF it works out right the Pirates have a solid top 4 rotation. If it doesn't it's not a killer contract, and he'll still could be an alright #5. No clue who they're leaning towards as #5 right now.

Going to be interesting in June/July when Morton is back and Cole is called up what happens with McPherson and Locke.

Injuries happen, so you can't project what you're 5-man rotation is going to look like months into the season.

I doubt Morton comes right back into the rotation, he'll probably either be in Indianapolis for an extended period of time or in the bullpen. He's being paid like a starter and he's expected to start eventually, I just don't know if it's going to be right away.

It's a nice problem to have, though. You don't want to go into the season with 2/3 rotation spots set aside for rookies, so this will definitely create an interesting competition between the three (though Cole really has no shot of making the roster out of camp unless he's striking out 2 guys an inning...between losing a year of control, him having almost no experience at AAA, and there being other options that have been forced to wait longer than they should have there's just too much going against him being called up before mid-June).

Basically the original 2 year/$12.75 million deal goes on as planned if he doesn't miss any time due to the injury, but the deal shrinks if he does miss time.

Jeff Karstens was added back into the mix last week, so the Pirates will head to Spring Training with 7 starters expected to make the opening day roster, Charlie Morton expected back in June, and Gerrit Cole likely ready by June.

Starting depth in Pittsburgh for the first time in more than two decades.

After a few false starts...the deal actually is official now...and with only $1 million in guarantees. Liriano can still reach the full value of the original deal ($12.75 million over 2 years), but he's set to make a $1 million salary for next year with a $3.75 million bonus he'd get this season depending on time in the DL and a vesting option for next year that works on sliding scale with DL time for this year.

Liriano could have a solid season...PNC Park is a friendly park for pitchers of his ilk, the NL is less offensive than the AL to begin with, the Pirates have good team defense, and his FIP has been significantly higher than his ERA the past few years.

I like the Pirates brining him Liriano and Sanchez. Give them both a shot. While Sanchez was horrid last year, I do think he's a better pitcher than that. Don't know the exact details of the new Liriano deal, but brining him in could be a plus. He won't come near the W's/IP as mentioned, but he does have the potential to have an ERA around 4.

I like the Pirates brining him Liriano and Sanchez. Give them both a shot. While Sanchez was horrid last year, I do think he's a better pitcher than that. Don't know the exact details of the new Liriano deal, but brining him in could be a plus. He won't come near the W's/IP as mentioned, but he does have the potential to have an ERA around 4.

Sanchez has almost no chance of making the team out of camp, but he's a nice option to have in Indianapolis on the off-chance he learns how to throw strikes again...I'm not expecting miracles, but that's why he's on a minor league deal.

Liriano is going to be #5 in the Pirates rotation. Expectations aren't huge, they just went for the home run on the hope that he could get back to the type of pitcher he was in 2010 by switching leagues.